Darrell Clarke appointed Port Vale manager: Port Vale FC have confirmed that former loanee Darrell Clarke is the club’s new manager.
As a player, Clarke had one of the shortest Port Vale careers on record. He played just one minute during a loan spell from Hartlepool United in 2005. Since retiring as a player he has spells in the Football League with both Bristol Rovers and Walsall.
An official statement said:
Port Vale is delighted to announce the appointment of Darrell Clarke as Manager.
He will immediately take charge of First Team affairs – working with the support of Danny Pugh.
Darrell, 42, brings with him a wealth of experience in football – having spent more than 25 years in the game as a player, coach and manager.
He was the manager at Salisbury City, Bristol Rovers and Walsall where he clocked up 479 games with an average win percentage of more than 44.5 per cent.
Darrell guided Salisbury to two promotions and also led Bristol Rovers to two promotions to League Two and then League One in the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons. After leaving Rovers in December 2018 he has guided Walsall to 11th place in League Two.
During his time in management, Darrell has a proven track record of developing young players.
He has signed an initial deal which will keep him at Port Vale until the summer of 2024.
Port Vale co-owner and Chair Carol Shanahan OBE said: “We are over the moon to have been able to bring in a Manager of Darrell’s calibre. He has such an impressive CV and his pursuit for excellence and thirst for success matches exactly our ambitions for Port Vale.”
Darrell Clarke’s managerial record
Salisbury City: 157 games (57% win ratio)
Bristol Rovers: 246 games (42% win ratio)
Walsall: 76 games (33% win ratio)
Honours: Salisbury City (2 promotions), Bristol Rovers (2 promotions)
Darrell Clarke appointed Port Vale manager. What do you think of the appointment? Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.
Any experienced appointment is better than having no manager. He obviously feels we are a better proposition than Walsall although they have beaten us twice. I am sure he knows two central defender’s are a priority as what we have are no better than backups. If he can bring in players with experience at the back and a recognised goal scorer the rest of the squad is good enough. The owner’s have shown their intentions on the managerial side and with 3 or 4 solid signings we could well be a force next season.
For now get the best out of what he has, which is still good enough if organised and get mid table safety.
I think the alarming thing about all the changes that are happening at Vale is that they should have occurred a long time ago. It seems that before Carol Shanahan’s emergence as Chairman the club was not run with great professionalism. Injured players were just allowed to recuperate without much guidance, and their future playing days and welfare were not major considerations.
We now seem to have taken on board some good knowledgeable committed people who should along with Carol’s overall care and devotion to the Club begin to set about making Vale the great Club it should be, and what many of us thought was already the case but were not aware of the shortcomings behind the scenes.
I hope that the Club now moves to better things with the people now delegated with the task. I am sure that there are some good times ahead.